Maastricht for work

Where will you be working and staying in Maastricht?

How do you plan to travel from Maastricht to Paris? If by train, the most logical stop would be Brussels, Belgium.

Yes traveling by train, I can add a stop in Brussels is there another stop? Or should I plan for 3 days there?

Yes traveling by train, I can add a stop in Brussels is there another stop? Or should I plan for 3 days there?

From Brussels, you can make easy day trips to Bruges and Ghent - or indeed stay over in either town if you have the time.

Nicole, you didn't say if you want to spend a night along the way, or just a few hours. One reason people mention Brussels (besides that it's conveniently along the way), it is easy to see some key sights right near the Centraal (one of the three stops in Brussels) Station. But the fact is that a substantial fraction of the posters on this board prefer other cities, such as Bruges, Gent, and Antwerp, to spend a few days in Belgium. However, they are all "spur trips". That is, you have to retrace your rail-steps to continue on the way to Paris. (However, it happens that Antwerp has its own premium direct trains to Paris.) Antwerp is my favorite. Unless you like art museums, I consider Brussels missable.

Note that the search function for this newsboard can provide hundreds of discussions about those four cities in Belgium. You can filter them for the last one or two years, if you prefer. But you'll still learn a lot about your options.

You might wish to add whether you have ever been to Europe before.

I would also second Antwerpen as a great introduction to Belgium. Nice town centre, greate food and drinks, interesting museums, and yes, you can take a direct train to Paris from there.